You mean to tell me we didn’t sell you on why you need a watch after our post about the Happy Hour Watch?
Well, be that as it may, many people ask this question to me when they see that I have a watch on everyday. It becomes an even better question when they ask me why I have about 12 watches. Answer is pretty simple really.
Yes, the purpose of a watch is to tell time. However, some really great watch makers have been popping up over the past few years and they are making stuff that aren’t just watches. I’d say they are more like art for your wrist, that’s why you should still wear a watch.
For example, Lip, a French watch-maker with a 141-year history, recently started resurrecting some of their designs from back in the 1970s, allowing a limited number to be sold in the States. For watch buffs like me, this was pretty phenomenal because we could get our hands on a piece that has the heritage and style cues from the 1970s series they are well known for, but at a fraction of the price that you’d pay for an original one on eBay. You can read the whole history of the brand on their Wikipedia page, it’s pretty interesting.
Awesome watch!
So watch makers are pushing the envelope a bit in my opinion. Enter a brand I stumbled upon called Phosphor. These guys have married a level of art in the design of the watch, with a level of technology that I’ve never seen in a watch before. The design of the watch band, face, etc., is all pretty simple and fairly understated. They appear to be pretty sleek and would probably contour well to one’s wrist. But when you start digging a bit deeper, you find out these watches are made using E-Ink technology. I’m not even going to try to explain how this works in terms of the display of the watch, so I suggest you just go here and read it for yourself.
E-Ink in a Watch?!?! Huh?
Whether you are a watch person or not, it’s hard to dispute that there are some cool companies out there coming up with cool designs. Again, for me, it’s less about telling time, but more about the design and art factor. I’m willing to bet this is the case for more than a few people out there or all these great companies wouldn’t be making watches anymore.
So do yourself a favor, go buy a watch.